Editorial Guidelines (1983: Doomsday)
EDITORIAL GUIDELINES FOR THE 1983: DOOMSDAY ATL Canon This ATL evolved from a short TL written by , the concurrent adoption by Xi'Reney, and later the (fictional) WCRB. So this is a basically open timeline; new content and edits are always welcome. But as the complexity of the timeline has rapidly increased new content will NOT automatically become "canon". New edits will have to be reviewed/harmonized/canonized to keep everything logical. Content which has already been accepted by the group as canon and has remained unchanged in the alternate history will have precedence over any proposed new changes. This does not mean you will be barred from making said changes if it is more plausible to update the content of the TL, but it is recommended you bring it to the group's attention at Talk:1983: Doomsday, which is the main page for discussion on the alternate history. To avoid some of these problems it is highly recommended that you read the timeline. With DD constantly growing, it has proved ideal to let the regional/national details be worked out by users specialized in the history of those regions. The results can be seen in some brilliant articles within this ATL. A Few Examples: * * * * * For further understanding of the idea of canon, proposals, and probability read QSS and QAA. Proposals When you create something new, it should be tagged as a proposal. This is done by adding to the top of the page. This adds the article to Category:Proposals (1983: Doomsday). It is also helpful to add a note about your new page to the bottom of Talk:1983: Doomsday#CURRENT ARTICLE PROPOSALS. Tagging the page as a proposal indicates that the entire group has not yet had a chance to discuss, debate, and possibly recommend changes to it. If you feel your article is ready to be recognized as canon, then say so on Talk:1983: Doomsday. If nobody raises any objections to your page, you can remove the Proposal tag after a certain amount of time - we have started to call this process "graduation". After that, the page will be considered a part of the Doomsday canon. Important note: the fact that a page or idea has been accepted/graduated does NOT mean that it is "finished". All of 1983DD's pages are undergoing constant updates and expansion. The graduation process simply means that what has been written - the essentials of the idea - are part of the TL's canon. Obsolete Sometimes, articles are not graduated into canon. This is because they either contradict canon or are too implausible to be a part of the timeline, and no one (neither the article's original creator or another editor) is willing to revise the article. To prevent these articles from remaining proposals forever, we have developed a procedure to archive them in case someone wishes to revise them in the future. In Talk:1983: Doomsday#CURRENT ARTICLE PROPOSALS someone moves to mark the article as obsolete. If this passes the template is added to the top of the article and all reference to the article is removed from the timeline. In case anyone wishes to revise the article, the only thing they have to do is add the proposal template to the article again. The article is an example of an article that was revised after being marked as obsolete. Review Sometimes, articles are graduated into canon even though they contradict current canon or are improbable. We have a procedure for dealing with that as well. If you feel an article should not be in canon, mark it with the template and give your reasons why on the article's talk page and at Talk:1983: Doomsday#CURRENT REVIEWS. If consensus is that you are correct, the article will need to be changed in order to remain in canon. If it is changed the review template is removed once someone moves to graduate it back into canon. If the article is not changed in 30 days, the article will be marked as obsolete. If consensus is that you are wrong, however, the proposal template will be removed without having to change the article. The article on was reviewed once and was revised, thus being allowed to return to canon. Plausibility Please try to keep things to a plausible level. Despite changes in the timeline from ours, the real world works in the same way in this ATL as it does in OTL. Generally, things that couldn't possibly happen in our timeline shouldn't happen in this one. Please do not insert aliens, magic or supernatural elements - as this ATL is already quite fictional on its own. Also remember that even if certain things are possible for people or nations, they should remain at least somewhat practical and achievable for them to have it happen. Unlikely but possible things can be allowed, as long as there is a good explanation as for why it happened over a more likely thing or outcome. Hometowns Furthermore, the purpose of 1983: Doomsday is not to transform your hometown into the bright center of civilization. Chances are that the place you live is no better or worse off than its immediate neighbors. Keep that in mind if you ever try to develop a nation that encompasses your hometown. Time Frame This ATL is intended to be a "current" or "Parallel" ATL where everything happens within the same time frame like OTL. So please avoid future history apart from short-term (like scheduled sport events,elections etc). However, feel free to fill in any historical gaps between September 1983 and the present day. Adopting articles Sometimes, real life causes editors to go missing, leaving their articles with no one to update them. Due to the nature of the timeline, its unrealistic to allow articles to remain unchanged while the history of this world marches on. So, if an editor has been missing for three months, another editor can adopt his articles. We ask that the adopting editor make an attempt to contact the missing editor by leaving a message on his or her talk page. If the missing editor does not respond in one week, the adopting editor can safely become the new caretaker of the article in question. Another way to adopt an article is to find one with the banner and remove, thus making you the new caretaker. But remember, RESPECT CANON! For a current list of adoptable articles, click here. Some Tips Some tips to help you in your editing: #When in doubt, it was nuked. #If the nation you are about to create was once a part of the British Empire, it's likely no one from the royal family is going to be leading it. #To all Reich and Greater Germany Fanatics out there: The Bundesrepublik and the DDR being in the epicentre of nuclear warfare leaves NO WAY of any Neo-German Reich or empire being created...not in Germany, not in Europe, not in South America or Africa...NOT IN THIS TIMELINE !! ##''Und nochmal in Deutsch: an alle "Freunde von Grossdeutschland und Deutschem Reich": Angesichts der Tatsache dass die BRD und die DDR im Epizentrum eines weltweiten nuklearen Krieges lagen, ist es in dieser Zeitlinie AUSGESCHLOSSEN dass ein wie auch immer geartetes Grossdeutschland oder Reich existiert. Weder in Europa, noch Südamerika, noch Afrika oder anderswo. NICHT IN DIESER ZEITLINIE !!!'' #Remember that the Third World/Southern Hemisphere has a better chance of survival then the Northern Hemisphere/First and Second World. #Small self-sufficient, independent communities are more likely to rise in targeted nations then large, complex nation-states. #Lack of mention to a certain nation does not necessary mean that it does not exist. Remember that there are likely several small African and Asian nations that have survived, and are just waiting for someone to write about them. #If you are going to use a historical figure, make sure to research where he or she was in 1983 because he or she may be turned into radioactive dust or stranded in a place where you don't want them. At the same time, this kind of research can get historical figures into interesting and unexpected situations. Margaret Thatcher, for example, was stranded in and eventually became Governor-General. Prince Andrew was aboard a ship at the moment of Doomsday and later found himself ruler of an African kingdom. #SLOW DOWN! Rome was not built in a day and neither is any of the nations that grew out of the post-Doomsday world. It is very unlikely that a struggling survivor community can become a world class "empire" in just over 2 decades. #This is NOT the CIA World Factbook. Feel free to write articles besides nation profiles. Message from the WCRB Thank you for your time reading these Guidelines! For any problem/comment on them please post them on the discussion page. Your WCRB - Timekeepers (We know this sounds very formal for a wikia creative site... but the complexity of this timeline made it necessary to establish some kind of order... and to maintain world order is always complex, isn't it ? :) See also Category:1983: Doomsday Category:Communities